As the fight against the novel coronavirus intensifies, India has made a consolidated list of all the personnel retired in the last two years. The retired personnel may be recalled in case of an emergency arises due to the Covid-19. As per a report in the Print, the Army is targeting the personnel having expertise in the medical and technical fields. The military service rule allows the Army to recall all those who completed their services or took premature retirement in the last two years to rejoin the forces and offer their services. This system ensures the sufficient availability of manpower in times of war.
One of the Army officers added, "We have made a composite list. This basically focuses on those with medical backgrounds and those with technical expertise who can be recalled if the need arises. It is not that everyone will be recalled. It all depends on the need. For example, if there is a requirement in Chandigarh, a person from Kerala would not be recalled."
However, the army is yet to send any communication to its retired personnel. The officer further added, "No, they have not been contacted. A two-year period of recall is something that every officer, JCO and jawan are aware of. Whenever a situation emerges, they know they could be called back."
Larger role to the Indian Army
Initially, the role of Army was limited to establish quarantine centers for those evacuated from abroad but as the number of cases are on a rise and expected to jump in the future, the government is assigning more roles. The Indian Army has marked six additional hospitals to conduct Covid-19 tests and has also identified 28 other facilities throughout the country to fight against any exigency arising out of Coronavirus outbreak.
Further, on Friday, Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Mukund Naravane launched ''Operation Namaste'' to insulate the 1.3 million strong force from coronavirus infection. The Army also pledged to extend all possible support to the government in containing the deadly novel Coronavirus.
